Back to School and Gaming, Kids

"Back to school for many kids means "back to internet access" in classes where the best of filtering software is not foolproof, particularly against seemingly harmless websites used for invasive marketing...
Internet-ready schools generally provide an "acceptable use policy" to parents and students that outlines net etiquette and safeguards against access to inappropriate websites. But little is formally being done to shield kids in school or at home from "immersive advertising" or corporate-sponsored "advergames" such as the Neopets website, which contains loads of embedded advertising messages and links to merchandise...
Advertisers spend about $15 billion a year targeting kids through sites like Neopets, which has ads embedded into games and links to websites operated by McDonald's, General Mills and Procter & Gamble...
Child advocates say youngsters often cannot tell they are being pitched products because this kind of advertising blurs the lines between marketing and entertainment. Experts fear that little is really known about long-term effects on children's brain development and emotional systems...
The Federal Communications Commission on Sept. 9 approved rules requiring TV stations that air more than one digital channel to show additional children's programming, but fell short of issuing a ban on interactive ads on digital television..."